SECRET DEFENDERS versus FANTASTIC FOUR

Suddenly... The Secret Defenders (Marvel)
Where: Fantastic Four #374 When: March 1993
Why: Tom DeFalco How: Paul Ryan

The Story So Far...
When Johnny Storm was caught alone in a surprise ambush by Paibok the Power Skrull, Lyja, and Devos The Destroyer -- he unleashed the full force of his nova blast in a last ditch effort to survive!

The desperate tactic left nearby Empire State University in scorched ruins, earning the ire of a public who believes Human Torch's flaming assault was a reckless act of endangerment.

With the rest of the Fantastic Four preoccupied -- and mercenaries taking to the streets to hunt The Torch down -- his old friend Spider-Man seeks the aide of Doctor Strange to assemble a familiar team to bring him in peacefully. With a simple astral projection the erstwhile New Fantastic Four are reunited!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Hulk 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Mr. Fantastic 6 (Genius)
Speed: Spider-Man 4 (???)
Stamina: Wolverine 6 (Generator)
Agility: Mr. Fantastic 6 (Rubber)
Fighting: Wolverine 6 (Warrior)
Energy: Human Torch 7 (Cosmic Power)
Total: Spider-Man 29 (Metahuman)

The Secret Defenders are: Spider-Man, Hulk, Wolverine, Ghost Rider, with Doctor Strange.

The concept of the original "non-team" was taken to its ultimate conclusion when Doctor Strange began recruiting disparate heroes for missions as the Secret Defenders. Spider-Man seeks his assistance to re-assemble a quartet once gathered to operate as the avenging "New Fantastic Four".

The Fantastic Four are: Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and Thing, with Ms. Marvel.

The long running relationship between Spider-Man and the classic FF has seen him play friend and "frenemy" to the Human Torch. We saw them fight side-by-side in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #4, Spider-Man Family #3, and Amazing Spider-Man #600, but rivalry got the better of them in Fantastic Four #543!

The FF also has a legendary history with the Hulk, starting with their first face-off in Fantastic Four #12! Much of the rivalry boils down to testing Hulk's strength against the Thing, who's also developed tensions with Wolverine.

Today's issue is where the true bad blood developed between them, but Thing & Wolverine also shared an earlier exchange in Contest of Champions #3, and extended their battles with an all-out war in Wolverine #22!

The overlapping dynamics between all the players on both teams are almost as intriguing as the general parallels between two versions of the FF.

Hulk and Thing are obvious strongmen, but this is a time when Bruce Banner's brilliant mind controls Hulk. His genius rivals Mister Fantastic within his field, while Spider-Man's webs and Ghost Rider's chains loosely approximate his elasticated reach. Ghost Rider's hellfire draws obvious parallel to Human Torch, but as we saw in Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance #6, its properties are very different.

Spider-Man and Ghost Rider can also roughly approximate the defensive projections of Invisible Woman, but it may be Wolverine who best inverts her role, providing penetrating blades in place of invisible force fields. He can also sniff out any invisibility with his keen senses.

In Wolverine #22 she stopped him cold by blocking his airways, but the same trick didn't work in the alternate reality rematch of What If? Wolverine: Enemy of the State. Sue Storm is on the edge of her Malice personality at this time, so the gloves certainly could come off. We saw her cause a lot of problem for the X-Men as one of Ahab's Hounds in X-Men Annual #14. She was pushed to lethal extremes when defending her family in Fantastic Four (Vol.3) #2, too.

Doctor Strange is here as an astral projection as in Strange Tales #111 and Marvel Adventures #14, but has no magical foe to interact with. That makes Ms. Marvel a bit of an x-factor, adding a second heavyweight to the FF.

Sharon Ventura is a former stuntwoman and Thing's ex-girlfriend who received super-human strength enhancements during her career with Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation. She later mutated into the erstwhile "She-Thing", but was cured of her rocky affliction in Fantastic Four #350. She left the group after they encountered Justice Peace in Fanatstic Four #354, but returned as a mole indebted to Doctor Doom for her cure.

Ms. Marvel is double tough, but will that be enough to tip the scales in favour of the classic Fantastic Four? It's about time we just dived in to find out!

The Tape: Secret Defenders Ranking: Spider-Man (#2)

What Went Down...
Pursued by Skrull adversaries and angry bounty hunters: Johnny Storm has had little time to refresh himself. The scent of the chase betrays him as the keen senses of Wolverine detect the young hero hidden within a decrepit building.

The Secret Defenders don't quite share Spider-Man's understanding. Hulk gives the young hero an ultimatum: walk out with them - or be carried out!

Incensed, but knowing he's clearly outgunned, the Human Torch sends a flare out the window to draw the rest of the searching Fantastic Four to his location. He then bursts into flames, leaping into the air to avoid the lashing chain of Ghost Rider, and stray webs slung by Spider-Man!

The evasive maneuvers give Human Torch a chance to return fire. Shocked that his old friend Spider-Man would betray him, he hurls his flame in the web-slinger's direction. Spidey leaps clear and pleads his case for wanting to help.

Hulk is much less concerned, slamming his hands together to send a shockwave that smothers Johnny's flame and knocks him clean out of the air!

The green goliath looms over a smoldering Johnny Storm, wanting to avoid more mindless fisticuffs. The decision is taken out of his hands as a rocky finger taps his shoulder -- followed with the fist of The Thing against his jade jaw!

The Fantastic Four file into the urban space ready to defend their comrade!

Spider-Man again hopes to talk it out, but Wolverine insists the time for diplomacy has passed. His hostility is met with the pliable, bending body of Mister Fantastic, who stretches around him and vows that Johnny will surrender himself peacefully to the appropriate authorities.

Ghost Rider sees Invisible Woman raising her hands and attempts to intervene, but his shuriken flinging chain hits only the force field she was conjuring up.

Her invisible bubbles also form around Wolverine's clawed fists, defending the malleable body of her husband from any unlikely punctures. The married couple share terse gratitude, their own turmoil simmering behind their teamwork.

Leaping to defend his sister: Human Torch ignites again -- and bathes Ghost Rider in an unrelenting stream of flame!

The mortal burning proves ineffective against one who is already engulfed with the unearthly inferno of hellfire. Ghost Rider explains his non-lethal attack as he stares coldly with the permanent grin of his exposed skull.

Meanwhile, Spider-Man does his best to keep one step ahead of the super-strong fists of Ms. Marvel. She swings wildly, smashing through a support pillar as Spidey pinballs from surface to surface -- and catches her with webs!

Thing ducks a wild left from Hulk, and questions how the former rampaging brute could be anything but understanding of Johnny's current predicament.

Hulk retorts that it's his extensive experiences with collateral damage that drives him to prevent anyone else from repeating his unthinking past!

The Thing connects with a right hand deep in the mid-section, but his low stance leaves him vulnerable to an overhead hammer fist! Hulk's powerful blow knocks Thing clean through the floor and sends him plummeting down multiple levels!

Hulk then sets his sights on Mister Fantastic, who's proven capable of stretching around Wolverine's probing adamantium claws. Hulk's massive hand grips Mister Fantastic by the vest and whips him off like a loose sheet from a bed!

The X-Man is quickly besieged by Invisible Woman, who smashes him with an invisible force field that sends him hurtling backwards through the air. It provokes a rapid response as he rushes back with claws at the ready to test the impenetrability of her famous defenses.

Adamantium barely connects with invisible projection as Thing returns to the battle and grabs Wolverine from behind! He uses his incredible strength to powerslam Wolverine into the ground with a single hand. The mutant reacts!

Animal instinct takes over as Wolverine savagely slashes his adamantium claws towards his attacker! The unrestrained assault sickeningly carves through Thing's rocky face. It's like nothing the travelled hero has ever experienced!

The Thing howls in agony -- clutching at his wounded cheek as his body lurches in shock. The chilling scene snaps Wolverine back to his senses. He searches for reason, knowing he's gone too far. Thing responds with an uncaring fist!

The power of Thing's furious blow sends Wolverine smashing through untold walls as his airborne body careens into another neighbouring building.

Invisible Woman, Ms. Marvel, and Mister Fantastic rush to their teammate's side. Reed ensnares Hulk with his elastic body while desperately declaring Thing needs immediate medical attention.

Only Human Torch continues fighting --  caught in Ghost Rider's otherworldly chain!

The Spirit of Vengeance blames the young hero for the burning of Empire State University -- and the subsequent grim fate that has now befallen The Thing.

The chain squeezes The Torch's throat until his flame subsides. Ghost Rider swats him to the ground with the backhand of his fist, and prepares to unleash the torment of Johnny's own sins with the dreaded penance stare.

Suddenly a blast of energy forces the demonic hero away from his target!

Lyja The Lazerfist arrives just in time to defend her ex-husband -- even though she was one of the Skrulls who started his troubles!

She joins the Fantastic Four as they huddle together, standing back to five other backs, with the Secret Defenders closing in to surround them.

It seems battle is about to begin anew when a blinding light suddenly engulfs the Fantastic Four and their allies!

In the blink of an eye the sextet vanishes! Wolverine's sense of smell confirms they haven't been made invisible by Susan Storm. The sudden disappearance leaves Doctor Strange to contemplate their uncertain fate. An end, of sorts.

The Hammer...
Another famous fight goes on the record! It's reputation is largely built on the face-off between the "New Fantastic Four" and their classic counterparts, and the far reaching consequence of Wolverine's savage lapse of care.

His slash will scar Thing for the next few years, but I wonder how many readers know that the fight actually ended with an inconclusive result. Thing is injured, but still standing at the ready with his team, when the issue comes to an end.

If that wasn't tenacious enough: The next issue reveals the Fantastic Four were transported to the moon base of Uatu, The Watcher. There, Thing almost immediately engages in yet another brawl -- taking a face full of metal fist before he clobbers a rampaging alien robot! That's before he even finds the protective metal helmet he'll be wearing for the next year or so!

Fantastic Four #375 is also where we first witness the gruesome disfigurement of his face. The wound is significant, exposing fleshy tissue along his brow and cheek. It isn't stomach churning on the page, but the reality would seem much more shocking. His helmet was unpopular, but at least protects him.

On the one hand, it's an interesting milestone for the characters involved. On the other, it's surprising that such a consequential event would come from an otherwise typical case of superheroes fighting over a misunderstanding.

The reader certainly knows Johnny Storm hasn't gone rogue. Unlike the catalytic event of Civil War; the Empire State University compound wasn't destroyed by negligence. Johnny wrestled with his actions, fighting as long as he could to give students and faculty a chance to clear the area, before he went nova.

Human Torch's predicament came about as a result of long running plotlines involving Lyja and Paibok. FF #374 is the third issue to deal with the fallout, which highlights a general crisis of conscience that won't plague Wolverine.

I have to think Wolverine expressed a sense of responsibility, if not guilt, at some point in his solo series, or another X-title. I just don't remember it happening. I think it might've been absorbed into more general struggles with his animalistic urges and rage, which became a central plot years later.

The most significant follow-up I can recall is Fantastic Four #395: a 1995 issue that promises "payback" and an epic rematch on the cover, but actually delivers a team-up with Ant-Man, and a burying of the hatchet for Thing and Wolverine.

My best guess is that it remained a one-sided issue because of editorial lines at the time. It seems like an idea initiated by the Fantastic Four office with the intent to tell Fantastic Four stories. The X-offices might've given their blessing, but probably had their hands full with other on-going storylines at the time.

1993 was a pretty big year for Wolverine and the X-Men.

The animated series was on a fast track to becoming a global multimedia phenomenon, and in comics you had long and winding storylines happening every month in Wolverine, X-Men, and Uncanny X-Men. Half a year after this, Fatal Attractions begins, and Wolverine has his own wounds to heal when Magneto strips the adamantium from his skeleton in X-Men #25.

It might've been interesting if Thing got his rematch while Wolverine had bone claws, but the brutality of hero-on-hero violence has already been a little weird.

Keep in mind: this is all happening a decade before Marvel heroes were routinely maiming and killing each other. Breaking Wolverine's claws was a moment reserved instead for an uber-nineties arch-nemesis: the metallic Cyber.

Of course, lets not overlook the 90s saturation of the assembly we have before us. The entire concept of the "New Fantastic Four" feels very much of that time, frivolously throwing together popular characters with almost no natural ties.

I'm actually a fan of the restraint they showed by only featuring this quarter a total of four issues, including this one. That always managed to keep the legend of the "New Fantastic Four" special. Going to that well too many times could've been a little tacky. As it stands, their reunion in Fantastic Four #374 would feel completely perfunctory if it wasn't for the on-going story of Thing's injury.

Sue Storm's extensively derided swimsuit costume also glows with the ills of the era, far more offensively than Mister Fantastic's dubious fishing vest.

There's something to be said for the logic of the outfit being rooted in the encroaching persona of Malice, but I was never the biggest fan of frequenting that idea, either. Not to be confused with the other Malice persona that turns Polaris into a screaming she-devil. We get it, guys... Menstruation!

It doesn't look like this issue is currently available in any collected formats, but you can find the first team-up of Spider-Man, Hulk, Wolverine, and Ghost Rider in the Epic Collection: Fantastic Four - The New Fantastic Four. Use the Amazon link provided for all your shopping and you'll not only get yourself a great deal -- but also support the site at no extra cost!

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Winners: Inconclusive (Draw)
#2 (--) Spider-Man
#4 (--) Wolverine
#6 (--) Hulk
#10 (--) Mister Fantastic
#12 (--) Thing
#13 (--) Human Torch
#14 (--) Invisible Woman
#151 (+16) Ms. Marvel (Sharon Ventura)
#399 (+2) Ghost Rider (Dan Ketch)
#161 (+5) Lyja [+1 assist]

VENOM versus GHOST RIDER

Spirits of Venom Part 4 of 4: Last Rites (Marvel)
Where: Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance #6 When: January 1993 Why: Howard Mackie How: Adam Kubert

The Story So Far...
Supernatural forces conspire in the night as New York City plays host to a bizarre gathering of occult entities! While Spider-man scrambles to protect Hobgoblin from the evil Demogoblin and Doppelganger -- the progeny of Deathwatch prepares for his resurrection below, drawing Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze, and Venom!

The forces of darkness threaten to consume the heroes when they converge in the underground of Manhattan's sewers. Against overwhelming odds, the heroes prevail over endless hordes of Deathspawn, but when Venom's hatred for Spider-man gets the better of him, Ghost Rider steps into the line of fire!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Venom 5 (Super-Human)
Intelligence: Draw 2 (Average)
Speed: Draw 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Ghost Rider 6 (Generator)
Agility: Venom 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting: Draw 3 (Street Wise)
Energy: Ghost Rider 5 (Lasers)
Total: Ghost Rider 25 (Champion)

You only need to look at the character mugshots above to see the elephant in the room! Venom has two well known weaknesses - and one of them is fire!

Ghost Rider may have a burning skull for a head, but that's no ordinary flame! When Danny Ketch touched a gas cap sigil on a mystic motorcycle, he was transformed into a demonic spirit of vengeance! Among his occult arsenal of infernal powers is hellfire, which scorches the soul, but not necessarily the flesh!

Hellfire has sometimes been described as being cold upon contact, which is a simple distinction from the burning that usually sends the Venom symbiote into pained frenzy! We saw Venom go relatively unbothered by hellfire when he went up against Demogoblin in Venom: The Enemy Within #3.

If fire isn't going to send Venom running, then we can at least expect this to be a pretty even fight! We're giving Venom a slight strength advantage, as Danny Ketch was often shown to be a little weaker in practice than Johnny Blaze was.

Blaze isn't irrelevant in this encounter! The previous spirit of vengeance, now stripped of his powers save for a hellfire shotgun, is in the midst of partnering with the new Ghost Rider. He's still in the vicinity, as the trio were, until this point, part of a team-up against the deathspawn cult of Deathwatch!

Symbiote tendrils and Ghost Rider's chain roughly cancel each other out, but in close quarters, could give Venom a slight edge. If he tries to pull the rider in, however, he runs the risk of gazing into the abyss of the penance stare!

Venom is two entities in one: Eddie Brock and the alien symbiote. It's unclear how the penance stare would interact with their unique dual psyche, or if it would even matter. Venom has done terrible things, but he acts in accordance with the twisted morality of a self-proclaimed lethal protector. The symbiote found Brock praying in a church, and penance may not be something he fears!

Dan Ketch's stare proved powerful enough to overwhelm Johnny Blaze, when he served the angel Zadkiel many years after this, in Ghost Rider #29! Will it be a factor? Halloween's coming up quick! Let's see what went down!

The Tape: Ghost Rider Ranking: Venom (#67)

What Went Down...
Halted from pursuing his bitter vendetta with Spider-man; Venom turns his hatred toward the binding chains of Ghost Rider! For allowing Spider-man to escape, the spirit of vengeance who was briefly Venom's ally has earned death!

Venom leaps at Ghost Rider, extending a massive alien-enhanced arm as he does. His fist only narrowly misses its target, smashing through the sewer wall immediately behind Ghost Rider's flaming skull!

The Rider attempts to talk reason into Venom, reminding him of the true threat of Deathwatch's deathspawn, but the mutual hatred shared by Eddie Brock and his alien costume will allow nothing else! So intense is their hatred for Spider-man that they dare question the demon spirit's grasp of true vengeance!

Venom clamps his massive teeth around Ghost Rider's wrist and swings his head around to toss him across the sewer!

The throw separates Ghost Rider from his mystic chain. Venom picks it up and launches himself at the struggling spirit, flexing mighty muscle driven by a mad, misdirected lust for revenge against Spider-man!

Ghost Rider finds his back to the ground as Venom bares down over him, pulling the chain ever tighter around his neck! Venom makes a crazed vow to use his own weapon to rip his head off, if Ghost Rider insists on getting in his way.

With his head still in tact, Ghost Rider glares up at his opponent and invites him to meet the searing gaze of his penance stare!

Fire streams from Ghost Rider's eye sockets and licks at the alien costume's wide white eyes! The flame engulfs Venom as the demon challenges him to face the very pain and suffering he has inflicted upon others!

Venom is surprised to find the fire doesn't burn, but he is never the less wracked with pain! He snares and grunts, but his isn't the only discomfort! The fire begins to burn more intensely as Ghost Rider realizes Venom's alien costume is a living sentient entity! A factor that causes an unknown reaction!

An explosion of hellfire breaks the penance stare - throwing the two combatants in opposite directions!

Flames flicker across the battlefield, but only one combatant lies motionless: Ghost Rider! Venom rises to continue his misguided grudge against the demon of vengeance, but a shotgun barrel pressing against his head warrants a stay of execution. Johnny Blaze arrives just in time to stop the finishing blow!

The Hammer...
So, what have we learned today?..

Apparently if Ghost Rider tries to use the penance stare on Venom: it causes some kind of explosive feedback-loop that spares symbiote & host the full effect!

Why exactly is that? There doesn't seem to be any explanation offered here, but it might have had something to do with the alien's vast cosmic experience prior to being brought to Earth.

Two decades later, the symbiote was described as having "too much sin" in Thunderbolts (Vol.2) #23, when Johnny Blaze tried to use the penance stare on Agent Venom. The end result was similar, shorting out the Rider's powers.

Being too guilty for penance is a slightly ridiculous way of framing the unusual exception, but perhaps there's a more satisfying way of looking at it...

Spirits of Vengeance are derived from the realms of Heaven & Hell. Their penance stare weaponizes the esoteric power of an individual's sins.

High-ranking devils and demons are also frequently seen to draw their power from evil & sin. If Ghost Rider is an agent of these higher demons (or angels), unable to dominate them, it stands to reason within the internal logic of the mythology, that there is a threshold for sin being greater than Ghost Rider's ability to utilize it.

This all presumes the Venom symbiote has a staggering history of evil, which may be more difficult to accept, particularly with expansions and revisions to the symbiote backstory. Personally, I think some ambiguity is for best, so I'm happy not to go too deep into the world of "Klyntar". Not yet, at least.

It's fun to think about the chemistry of how unique characters interact, but I'm not sure this much handwringing is really necessary. Spirits of Venom is liquid 1993, crossing over two of Marvel's most visual characters, in the hands of one of their emerging popular artists. It's all about spectacle!

Adam Kubert shows moments of brilliance, leading with a full page POV from the back of Venom's throat on Page 1! You can see part of the image included above, sans credits. It's a great way to exploit Venom's ever-gaping mouth and makes for an awesome open!

Things get a little sketchy from there as the action, initiated by the end of Web of Spider-man #96, gets going, but it soon delivers another great moment. The fire pouring out of Ghost Rider and enveloping Venom [also pictured above] is an example of the really exciting, inventive layouts Kubert cranked out here!

Inker Bill Reinhold and colorist Greg Wright deserve a lot of credit for adding to the look of the issue! A lot of these early nineties Midnight Sons superhero-horror series had a similar look. It's a mistake to think of them as dark. Actually, they frequently had vivid colours and bright light reference! These were the supernatural glows that created the dark shadows people remember.

I really love the glowing purples and greens, and the way they pop against dark blues, greys, and blacks. The stories themselves could get pretty dodgy, but the finished artwork, particularly in the first couple of years, always seemed to have a high gloss that evoked a signature style and standard of quality.

All the interiors arguably pale compared to the Spirits of Venom Part 4 cover by Kubert and Ken Steacy! The image [page top] of an upside down Venom holding Ghost Rider's flaming skull in a chain was recreated in different mediums throughout the early nineties. I particularly recall a brighter version used in the first series of Marvel Flair trading cards - memorable for the thickness of their cardstock, and premium price. It sure helped mythologize the crossover!

Spirits of Venom plays up supernatural plotlines of Jason Macendale and the excised Demogoblin, creating a fairly natural crossover between the third string Spider-man series and secondary Ghost Rider title. It all feels a little gratuitous, but the concerns and motivations of the lead characters are actually pretty well represented. Even if its four issues of everyone raging incoherently through the sewers against each other, generic demons, and low rent villains.

The four-issue "event" really pales in comparison to Maximum Carnage from the same year, but it's an interesting artefact of its time, and I imagine we'll be back to pick apart some of the other conflicts that unfolded. As noted: Johnny Blaze stepped in to follow-up simmering tensions between he and Venom.

If you'd like to follow-up on more Spirits of Venom, or other stories, dive into the Secret Archive for a full index of featured fights organized by publisher, series, and issue number!

You can also find more battles by following links throughout this post, or following Secret Wars on Infinite Earths on Twitter and Facebook! Sharing and liking your favourite fights is a great way to support the site! October is Halloween, so stay tuned for more horrors!

Winner: Venom
#16 (+1) Venom (Symbiote)
#42 (+25) Venom (Eddie Brock)
#362 (-44) Ghost Rider (Dan Ketch)

GHOST RIDER versus GHOST RIDER

Last Stand of The Spirits of Vengeance (Marvel)
Where: Ghost Rider #29 When: January 2009
Why: Jason Aaron How: Tan Eng Huat

The Story So Far...
When Johnny Blaze vexed the demon Mephisto he was cursed to wander the Earth as a spirit of vengeance - or so he thought. New revelations reveal his fire burns by the will of the renegade angel Zadkiel!

Drawing from the strength of his army of Ghost Riders, Zadkiel plans to harness enough power to overthrow the Heavens!

Charged to gather the might of other riders is Dan Ketch -- himself a mortal who was once a spirit of vengeance! Hungry to again taste the power he once held, he accepts a mission to free all Ghost Riders from the burden of their vengeance. A quest that inevitably brings him face to face with his long lost brother Johnny Blaze! Now the former allies must burn

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Johnny Blaze 5 (Super-Human)
Intelligence: Draw 2 (Average)
Speed: Draw 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Draw 5 (Marathoner)
Agility: Johnny Blaze 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting: Draw 3 (Street Wise)
Energy: Draw 5 (Lasers)


Not a hoax! Not a dream! Not an imaginary story! It's a serious case of seeing double as the classic Ghost Rider finds himself challenged by his edgy new nineties replacement! Can't tell who's who? It's real simple...

Dan Ketch became the Ghost Rider one Halloween night when he and his sister travelled to Cypress Hill Cemetery. They were there to watch psychics commune with the spirit of legendary escapist Harry Houdini - but instead were caught in the crossfire between gangs working for Kingpin and Deathwatch! With his sister wounded, Dan tries to hide in a nearby wrecking yard, where he discovered a pristine motorcycle with a cursed petrol cap. Contact forever changes him as he becomes a spirit of vengeance - Ghost Rider!

We've only seen Danny Ketch in action a couple of times on Secret Wars on Infinite Earths, neither of them flattering. He got himself strung up and impaled while fighting Demogoblin and a demonically possessed Blade in Ghost Rider #40. Then in the rematch, the Demogorge transformed Blade finished Ghost Rider off in a brutal battle seen in Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance #13!

Johnny Blaze was a travelling circus stunt performer when he became the skull faced spirit of vengeance. Dabbling in the occult for personal gain brought him into the presence of the devil Mephisto. The love of his girlfriend Roxanne helped drive Mephisto away, but ignited a feud for Johnny's tainted soul - now bonded to the demon Zarathos!

Blaze has a couple of wins to his name in our records: He tortured The Trapster in a team-up with Spider-man [Marvel Team-Up #58], and got the best of Captain America, Iron Man and Thor in Avengers #214!

Even though their fight records thus far are mirrored opposites, the two Ghost Riders share overwhelming similarities. They both ride infernal motorcycles, they both wield dangerous hellfire, they can both invoke the power of penance, and they both possess varied degrees of super-human strength and durability!

In the brute strength stakes, I tend to think of Blaze as the more powerful of the two. He's gone blow for blow with the likes of The Thing - no mean feat! On the flip side, Ketch is the quintessential 'new and improved' model. Trademark moves like the Penance Stare and those ever present chains are a part of Ketch's repertoire right from the start. His tricks don't end there, though.

At this stage of their careers, Ketch burns with the blue flame of the fallen angel Zadkiel. He's an archangel of vengeance, pulling Dan's strings to seek out other spirits of vengeance and absorb their powers! A temptation for Ketch, who didn't enjoy life when he'd lost the Ghost Rider's power. Because he's been sucking up spirits for a while, he's pretty juiced up. Bad news for Johnny Blaze!

Dan may have a lot of flashy tricks, but Blaze has experience - and that's gotta be his strength. Over the years he's picked up a lot of Ketch's moves, and has a long history of blazing his own trail. That makes these guys hard to separate, so we may as well just dive in and answer the fanboy question: Who would win a fight between the two Ghost Riders? Let's go!

The Tape: Johnny Blaze Ranking: Johnny Blaze (#78)

What Went Down...
On a mountain somewhere in Tibet, cold wind blows the snow top frost around two men. The gust has no effect on infernal sparks that dance around one of their heads -- igniting into the burning visage of Johnny Blaze: Ghost Rider!

Standing opposite Blaze is his one-time successor - the now blue flamed spirit of vengeance: Dan Ketch! Hungry for the power he once possessed, Ketch sold his soul to the fallen angel Zadkiel. Now his mission is to consume Johnny's power!

Ketch justifies his mission with vague allusions to a higher understanding. Blaze challenges him to demonstrate and is sent hurtling across miles of snowy landscape!

Blaze crash lands hard in the snow, making a large crater with his impact.

Ketch is right behind, to hoist the Ghost Rider out of his pit - only to launch him again through the mountains! As Blaze struggles on his hands a knees, Ketch lifts a massive boulder above his head and sends it smashing over his target!

Again, the blue flamed Ghost Rider yanks his opponent from the ground - this time unearthing his limp body from its resting place beneath the broken bedrock. He professes to be working for his brother's own good. Blaze snaps defiantly back to life, snatches his "brother" by the throat and literally explodes!

When the flames clear, this time it's Dan Ketch flat on his back! Blaze mockingly prescribes repeated stomps to the skull and body for Ketch's own good. Then he squats down over him, clutches his skull with both hands, and inflicts the agony of all the pain and suffering Ketch has caused with the dreaded penance stare!

The blue Ghost Rider roars as the memories turn in on him. Baring witness to the demise of all the other riders, Johnny Blaze stumbles backward in shock. It's enough to give Ketch an opening to throw his boot into Blaze's burning face!

Ketch seeks understanding for his role in "freeing" the spirits from their burden. Johnny Blaze cracks his fist against the murderous Ghost Rider's jaw in decisive response: "They're dead!"

Righteous to the end, Ketch clubs his predecessor with a closed fist and turns the tables. This time Johnny Blaze will face his past under the terrifying gaze of the penance stare!

Confronted by the memories of loved ones who suffered for his occult existence, Johnny Blaze howls in agony! He drops to the ground, the flames of the Rider leaving him to reveal the mortal beneath. Tearfully, he accepts Dan's offer.

Zadkiel's spirit of vengeance starts sucking the power from Johnny Blaze's willing form. Only the intervention of a Caretaker saves him from being stripped of the Ghost Rider's power -- and his mortal existence!

She pops the front wheel of her motorcycle into the air, knocking Ketch clear of Blaze's prone body.

Weakly Johnny tries to tell her to leave, but she won't take no for an answer! She hoists the exhausted man onto her bike and faces front for a quick getaway! He reaches for the blue flames behind them, begging for his curse to be lifted as they escape.

The Hammer...
It's only by the intervention of Sara that Johnny Blaze is rescued from his own self-determined submission. With that in mind, we acknowledge Ghost Rider Dan Ketch as the winner of this fight!

If you find that outcome (or assessment) just a little disappointing, you're well within your rights. It's not quite the dream match it was hyped up to be, but it suffers from more than a lacklustre brawl...

In our last featured fight we talked about the introduction of Robbie Reyes as the "All-New" Ghost Rider of 2014. In that example, Marvel were very successful in balancing old and new elements to create a fresh take on a classic brand.

Key to its success is its individuality: All-New Ghost Rider sources contemporary LA car culture, a signature art style, and a completely new origin story!

It was a risky proposition to separate the new Ghost Rider so completely from his popular predecessors, but by leading with well executed new material, Marvel reaped the benefits of catching lightning in a bottle all over again! A fully realized new take established before it was thrust into a domain of comparison.

In 2008-09, the approach to expanding the Ghost Rider mythos took a very different tact. Johnny Blaze was the traditional central figure, riding us into an unfurling reality over populated with other skull-headed spirits of vengeance.

The return of Dan Ketch almost functions as written permission to follow the Ghost Rider myth to its logical end. After all, Johnny Blaze's circumstances were unusual, but not unique. Dan Ketch had appropriated a lot of Blaze's identity as a 1990 relaunch of the concept. In '92, another active Rider was established as Ketch's dark rival: Michael Badalino, better known as Vengeance.

Under Jason Aaron, this history of purposeful expansion becomes license to create a league of Ghost Riders from different times and places. It's an opening of the floodgates reminiscent of loathsome action figure variants, insufficiently supported by attempts to rapidly build a retroactive history.

The comparison of the era would be DC's rainbow colored explosion of counterpart Corps to the Green Lantern. The hugely successful GL expansion remains a shining example of the fine line between color coded monotony, and nuanced hero generator.

The modern Green Lantern premise is pre-conditioned for expansion, but in the case of the Sinestro Corps and everything beyond, it was the nested distinction of well designed characters within each Corps that made it work. The discipline to resist broad strokes based on team color alone made it work. It was also what was missing from damned adaptations like the Ryan Reynolds movie, or the disappointing CG animated series.

That isn't the only time Green Lantern has been at the centre of a successful venture into expanded mythology. The earliest impactful example goes back to the mid 1950s, where the introduction of Hal Jordan and Barry Allen as new versions of Green Lantern and The Flash began the Silver Age of superheroes! As replacement heroes adopting an existing identity, they weren't worlds apart from Robbie Reyes, even if they had the luxury of their predecessors being out of print quite a while. [For more, see: Old Comics Weds: Substitute Heroes!]

The range of 2009 Ghost Riders only exist in the periphery of the dream match presented by Ghost Rider #29, but it's a central pre-occupation that prevents this from being the balls to the wall throwdown 90s fans might've imagined.

The popularity of Dan Ketch in his day cannot be over stated! Johnny Blaze had served the seventies well, marrying motorcycle wanderlust and stunts to the boom of resurgent horror comics. The eighties explored the character more, but he seemed to get lost in the shuffle. The time was right to update Ghost Rider with new motorcycle aesthetic and cult, gothic horror of the time! A chain laden nineties reinvention that squeezed more out of the character, whilst capturing the imagination through the simple power of the visual!

Like his predecessor, Dan Ketch was perceived to be connected to the fad of the times. As comics withdrew from the booming period of the early nineties and the comics got lost in excess, the character was swept aside. Introspective comics of the 2000s chose Johnny Blaze for post-modern reinvention, but even that was a tough sell to fashionable readers.

The battle that finally brings the two Ghost Riders together in 2009 ultimately courts dissatisfaction by presenting the popular, classic Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze) as weak and submissive to the tarnished newer model.

Granted, there are narrative reasons for Ketch's power, not unlike the plot of Spirits of Vengeance #13. The difference between the two being the quality of the fight, and the quantity of content. There doesn't seem to be any need for a clear winner in this early chapter, so a hard hitting stalemate would've sufficed.

I quite like the line work of artist Tan Eng Huat, but his layouts are very hit and miss. When the action gets going, it can be very difficult to see exactly what's happening at times. On some pages, it's painfully clear, as minor movements are documented over pages of repeating staging. I sense a script stretching its material too thin, or making vague suggestions. Stronger art direction could have elevated the material, either way.

Colorist Jose Villarrubia doesn't have a lot to work with to create variation in images, but he services the art well. A deep cool palette contrasts with bright, hot flames. Mauves and purples bridge the gap well when scenes allow for it.

Ultimately, this isn't a bad issue. The ideas aren't critically flawed. Choices on and off the page just ask a bit too much, and are hampered by a lot of little issues that nag the more it goes on. It's a case of a lot of things not quite coming together, the way so much went right when editorial took another shot at it for All-New Ghost Rider!

Got a different take? Want to see for yourself? Hit up the Amazon link provided to pick up a collected edition! Doing so helps support the site at no extra charge, which means you can keep your soul and read your book!

You can find lots more superhero smackdown and review by following links throughout this post, or diving in to the Issue Index! There you'll find all past feature fights organized by publisher and series.

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has really gone to Hell this month, but up next we're travelling to a universe that really bites! Be here to find out exactly what that means very soon!

Winner: Ghost Rider (Dan Ketch)
#302 (+200) Ghost Rider (Dan Ketch)
#502 (new) Caretaker (Sara) [+1 assist]
#97 (-19) Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze)

GHOST RIDER versus BLADE
Dead Man's Tale (Marvel)
Where: Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance #13 When: August 1993 Why: Howard Mackie How: Adam Kubert

The Story So Far...
When Blade receives a mysterious black envelope containing a page from the Darkhold book of magic, he unleashes a spell, once read, that embues him with the powers of a demogorge. So begins Blade's rampage on all things supernatural and occult.

Attracted like a moth to flame, Blade's powers to perceive and gravitate toward the supernatural only becomes greater as he absorbs the powers of all he kills. Hannibal King, John Blaze, Demogoblin, Werewolf by Night, Modred, Victoria Montesi, and Michael Morbius all contribute to Blade's amassing powers in their death.

Hellbent on the eradication of all things supernatural, Blade finally marches on the greatest source of mystic power in New York - Dr. Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum; home to the Darkhold! With time and opportunity fast running out, Ghost Rider must join the Nighstalkers and bring an end to the demogorge.

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Ghost Rider 4 (Enhanced)
Intelligence: Blade 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Draw 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Ghost Rider 6 (Generator)
Agility: Blade 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting Ability: Blade 5 (Martial Arts)
Energy Power: Ghost Rider 5 (Lasers)


- When a man and his girlfriend are attacked by gangsters, they unknowingly seek refuge in a scraplot containing a rare artifact. Upon touching the mystic symbol on a motorcycle's tank cap, Dan Ketch is transformed into the flaming spirit of vengeance, inheriting the curse of the hellborne Ghost Rider!

Like Johnny Blaze before him; Ketch's demon grants him fantastic powers that may be used in the pursuit of righteous vengeance. Powers that include; super strength, durability, speed, control over the hellcycle, hellfire, mystic chains, and the penance stare; capable of rendering a dark soul inert by forcing them to relive the wrongs they have commited on others.

- In a whorehouse in London, a child was born into the world, destined for greatness. When the vampire Deacon Frost was to feast on the woman in labour, he inadvertently passed along certain enzymes that would eventually grant Eric Roberts the strengths of a vampire, with none of their weaknesses. Thus the young boy grows into legend; the Daywalker -- Blade!

Blade lives up to his name, highly skilled with various forms of weaponry and munitions. A dedicated vampire hunter, Blade is skilled in the martial arts, and a thorough tactician with an arsenal of weapons that compliment his acquired enhanced strength, speed, senses, durability and reflexes.

Additional: Having taken a page of the Darkhold, Blade has become possessed by the power of the Demogorge. His ability to sense the supernatural is enhanced, and he now absorbs the powers of the mystics he kills. It was while possessed by the Demogorge that Blade had a runin with Ghost Rider and Frank Drake in a previous entry in the Infinite Wars [Ghost Rider #40].
Aided by Demogoblin, Blade was able to fend off the heroes, to later overcome Ghost Rider alone. The intervention of Frank Drake saved Ghost Rider.

History: Draw (0-0-1)
The Math: Blade Ranking: Blade (#177)

What Went Down...
Having effortlessly penetrated the powerful spells cast by Earth's Sorceror Supreme, Dr. Strange; Blade enters the Sanctum Sanctorum, only to find the good doctor absent. His growing awareness of the supernatural draws Blade deeper into the Sanctum where he discovers the only weapon capable of reversing his devolution into darkness - the Darkhold!

The second Blade removes the book from it's pedestal, powerful spells launch it through the building toward the night sky and an interdimensional portal designed to protect the book in Strange's absence. With the luxury of time working against them, Ghost Rider aids Blade in ahcoring the book to the Earth with the use of his mystic chains. The protection of the book allows Blade to finally turn his attentions to the elusive spirit of vengeance.

Ghost Rider's vengeful charge is abruptly ended, as Blade draws the shotgun weapon once held by John Blaze. The mystic gun spews hellfire through Ghost Rider's body, inflicting maximum damage as Blade lordes his powers.

Blade summons a mighty wind with the elemental powers of Modred, using them to hold the Nightstalkers back from the Darkhold, while he draws his own close-quarters weapons to finish Ghost Rider off.

Engulfed in flame, Blade impales the Ghost Rider with his namesake, feeling no resistance from the powerful demon. He pulls his foe in twain, before driving a blade through the sprit of vengeance's flaming skull! So begins the transfer...

Unfortunately for Blade, he fails to anticipate the nature of the Ghost Rider's power. Absorbing the hellacious abilities of the spirit of vengeance comes at a startling cost as the penance stare is turned inward, forcing Blade to relive the many murders committed in his recent past as a demogorge.

The searing pain of his penance distracts Blade enough to stem the winds he'd summoned to prevent access to the Darkhold. Louise Hastings, of the Redeemers, springs quickly into action, reading from the book so as to resurrect those killed, and return their powers to them from Blade. So ends the Midnight Massacre...

The Hammer...
Despite having his ungodly powers stripped, I think it's safe to say a bitter victory goes to Blade! Despite being killed by the powered-up slayer, Ghost Rider is among those resurrected by the Darkhold spell.

In a month supposedly dedicated to Iron Man, you might be wondering what brought on this unlikely Midnight Sons feature.
It was recent discussion on the Marvel.com message boards that posed the question of whether or not Blade could, or already had, defeated Ghost Rider as his Wikipedia entry claimed. Since contextually absent or poorly described events from Wikipedia style entries are exactly what the Infinite Wars intends to elaborate upon, it seemed like a great opportunity to contribute!

Top 25 Devils/Mystics#1 Dhalsim (Capcom)
#2 Dr. Doom (Marvel)
#3 Zatanna (DC)
#4 The Demon (DC)
#5 Ghost Rider (Marvel)
#6 Morbius (Marvel)
#7 Hellcat (Marvel)
#8 The Spectre (DC)
#9 Dr. Strange (Marvel)
#10 Blazing Skull (Marvel)
#11 Mephisto (Marvel)
#12 Phantom Stranger (DC)
#13 Dr. Fate (DC)
#14 Deadman (DC)
#15 Dr. Occult (DC)
#16 The Hood (Marvel)
#17 Hellboy (Dark Horse)
#18 Jin Kazama (Namco)
#19 Dr. Fate (DC)
#20 Lyta (DC)
#21 Blade (Marvel)
#22 Captain Marvel (DC)
#23 Scarlet Witch (Marvel)
#24 Scorpion (Midway)
#25 Ghost Rider (Marvel)The gang was able to find their way to the Infinite Wars for the previous throwdown between these characters [Ghost Rider #40], where only the intervention of Frank Drake prevented a recorded loss. For the purposes of that discussion [BBS: Blade nearly won a fight against Ghost Rider?] you might argue that Blade did indeed defeat Ghost Rider in that issue, but it's here that the lethal victory described on Wikipedia occurs.

Unfortunately I can't elaborate much further than this encounter, but it's nice to be able to accomodate Infinite Wars readers even that far. If you're a member of the Marvel.com boards, be sure to let the lads know new information has emerged!

Last time we featured these characters, the recurring subject of Marvel's struggle to find a lasting treatment in comics for the characters was a hot topic. Speculation that the recently relaunched Blade and Ghost Rider titles were destined for cancellation proves, at this point, to be half true.

The Guggenheim/Chaykin Blade series fizzled to an end with issue twelve. Working against the title were painfully obvious factors like Chaykin's decidedly unattractive pencil work, inconsequential guest appearances, and uninvolving storylines. Like so many post-movie comics, this quite deliberately butted against the slick, modern urbana of the Stephen Norrington success, opting instead for an experience apparently unintentionally eighties-style in it's presentation and palette.

Despite steering gleefully toward it's seventies origins, Ghost Rider has fared much better. Stale story telling kept me away from early issues of the title, but while not terribly interested, I have to at least applaud the precedent for recent stories pandering to a grindhouse quality of horror.
The detached nature of buzz-writer Jason Aaron's take on the character is about to collide with more familiar topics. Fans can look forward to recognisable features such as, the hellfire shotgun, and former-Ghost Rider, Dan Ketch!

I couldn't possibly deny the affection I have for these nineties stories.
Though not typically looked upon with admiration, they represent a type of storytelling that allowed these characters to fill a very specific niche, while representing the Marvel Universe mentality of characters operating and clashing within a certain space. Though fond of the strong visual of this character, I can't say I've ever had a particular affection for the western/horror vibe of a desert wandering Ghost Rider.

I hope this coming return of Ketch (and the gun feature in our review) will offer more than just a familiar skull-face. I hope very much this can be the beginning of stories not necessarily designed to establish a universe, but to at least build on some of the recent traditions of these characters. Though not of a terribly high standard, I did get a thrill seeing Morbius in the illfated Blade series.

It's those characters, often identified for their supporting roles, that I enjoy seeing in this larger context. The versimilitude of Doppelganger, Demogoblin, Blade, Ghost Rider, Morbius, Dr. Strange, and various other occult heroes, all mingling in the same section, fills me with a comic book sensical joy.

Keep an eye on weekly shipping list updates for more on upcoming Ghost Rider, but in the mean time, I leave you with the promise of updates to come! Be sure also to stay tuned for the Monthly Punch-Up on the first of the month!

The Fight: 4.5 The Issue: 5

Alas, to the best of my knowledge, Midnight Massacre is not available in collected format. You can find plenty of other exciting reads, starring Ghost Rider and other, in the Infinite Wars Amazonian Gift Shoppe! Amazon has a wide range of Marvel titles, and every time you use purchase links from the Infinite Wars, you help sponsor future entries! While you're splashing around the cash, also be sure to take full advantage of the recent $1.99 price reduction on Mike Haseloff's The Kirby Martin Inquest! Available online; the series introduces the White Ghost, a vigilante seeking justice in an urban environment!

GHOST RIDER/FRANK DRAKE
versus BLADE
Hunters (Marvel comics)
Where: Ghost Rider #40 When: August 1993
Why: Howard Mackie How: Ron Garney

The story so far...
When a black envelope containing a page of the legendary book of mysticism, the Darkhold, is read by Blade, he becomes a living vessel for the rebirth of the Demogorge.

With Blade's own hatred to spark the fire, he marches through the mystic underworld with the sole intent of eradicating all demons, magicks and supernaturally touched spirits that exist throughout the world -- absorbing their powers as they fall by his sword!

With Hannibal King and John Blaze having already fallen to Blade, their allies and fellow members of the fabled Nine; Daniel Ketch and Frank Drake; must chase their former ally and put an end to his unwavering massacre.

Previous Form:
Blade (#30): A defeat at the hands of Wolverine.
Ghost Rider/Frank Drake/Demogoblin: Each making their Infinite Wars debut.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Ghost Rider 4 (Steroid Popper)
Intelligence: Blade 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Blade 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Ghost Rider 6 (Generator)
Agility: Blade 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting Ability: Blade 5 (Martial Artist)
Energy Powers: Ghost Rider 5 (Lasers)


- Like Johnny Blaze before him, Daniel Ketch carries the curse of the Ghost Rider with him. These hellborne powers grant him fantastic powers that may be used in the pursuit of righteous vengeance. Powers that include; super strength, durability, speed, control over the hellcycle, hellfire, and mystic chains.

One of Ghost Rider's most unique weapons is the penance stare, a supernatural glare that allows him to inflict the suffering of an enemy's crimes back upon them.

- Frank Drake is descended from the legendary vampire lord, Count Dracula, from the bloodline started before Dracula became the vampire. The Drakes pursue the curse of their association throughout the generations, changing their name to Drake to remove the stink of Dracula's plague.

Though he does not possess any superhuman capabilities, Frank Drake is well versed in various hand-to-hand combat styles, and advanced weaponry. He is also intimately familiar with the supernatural, and thus not easily intimidated.

- In a whorehouse in London, a child was born into the world, destined for greatness. When the vampire Deacon Frost feasted on the woman in labour, he inadvertently passed along certain enzymes that would eventually granted Eric Roberts the strengths of a vampire, with none of their weaknesses as the Daywalker -- Blade!

Blade lives up to his name, highly skilled with various forms of weaponry and munitions. A dedicated vampire hunter, Blade is skilled in the martial arts, and a thorough tactician with an arsenal of weapons that compliment his acquired enhanced strength, speed, senses, durability and reflexes.

Having taken a page of the Darkhold from the black envelope, Blade has become possessed by the Demogorge. His ability to sense the supernatural is enhanced, as well as a new ability to absorb the powers of the mystics he kills.

- The Demogoblin is a demon who crossed over to Earth after a deal was made by Jason Macendale to gain enhanced powers in his battle with Spider-man.
Eventually split from the Hobgoblin, Demogoblin would go out on his own as a dark shade of his former host. Like Ghost Rider, Demogoblin claims the righteous path of vengeance, pledging to war against those he dubs sinner by his own twisted moral code.

Demogoblin possesses superhuman strength, speed, and a mystic arsenal modelled on the Hobgoblin including; a flaming bat-glider, flaming bats, and flaming pumpkin bombs.

The Math: Blade The Pick: Ghost Rider/Drake

What went down...
Drawn to The Crown Cafe nightclub; Blade, possessing the power of the Demogorge, follows the scent of the occult, stalking the mystic, Seer.
Not far behind, the Demogoblin wins the race with Ghost Rider to reach Blade, hoping to pledge himself to the Demogorge's extinction agenda of all things supernatural. The potential conflict of interests is lost on the demon, who pursues attempts to barter his usefulness.

Blade invites Demogoblin to serve him by throwing himself on his sword, but is soon distracted by the priority of the fleeing Seer. When she narrowly escapes the tip of his katana, Demogoblin again pledges his use when Ghost Rider and Frank Drake finally arrive on the scene!

Ghost Rider snags Blade in the coil of his mystic chain, while Frank Drake turns the non-lethal blast of his plasma cannon on their former ally, hoping to pacify him without lethality. It is Drake's hope the Demogorge's actions may be reversed.

Demogoblin comes to Blade's rescue, hurling several exploding demonic pumpkin bombs at the spirits of vengeance. He snatches Blade up, making an airborne escape to pursue the fleeing young female.

Determined to protect Seer, Ghost Rider summons his hellcycle outside the nightclub and speeds ahead of Drake to catch up to Demogoblin and Blade.
The two homicidal demons are found atop a skyscraper, where Demogoblin continues to pursue an alliance with the Demogorge, offering to sacrifice Seer as a tribute.

The Demogorge again refuses, turning on Demogoblin with the intent to make both mystics his victims. Before he can do so, the flaming wheels of the Ghost Rider's hellcycle cut a path that snatches Seer from Demogoblin's grip, and pulls her to safety.

Drawing his sword, Blade stalks toward the Ghost Rider. He notes an oversight in not coming after him after killing his fellows, Blaze and King, something Ghost Rider no doubt takes an exception to.

Despite the desire for vengeance, Ghost Rider is swatted with ease by Blade, who grows increasingly powerful with each confrontation. Blade declares a death-feud on members of the mystical Nine, starting with the Rider!

Ghost Rider steadys himself and declares his strength great enough to resist Blade at his current power level. Again hoping to engender goodwill from the slaughtering possessor of the Demogorge, Demogoblin leaps up to snag Ghost Rider in a sleeper hold -- noting their combined powers great enough to defeat the spirit of vengeance!

Demogoblin is finally forced to 'take the hint', suffering the Demogorge's uncompromising mission, impaled upon Blade's sword along with Daniel Ketch; the Ghost Rider. The demon smoulders with hellfire in death, as Blade's body absorbs the hellacious powers.

As Seer teleports to gather reenforcements; Blade turns his newly acquired powers on the Ghost Rider. His enhanced strength appears to give him the upperhand as he blasts the already battered Rider with bursts of flame.

The Demogorge chains Ghost Rider to a radio tower, taking his mystic shotgun to use Ghost Rider's powers against him in a literal sense. He turns the gun on him, blasting him with streams of hellfire that burn even the spirit of vengeance.
Unable to risk turning back to his human form of Dan Ketch, the Ghost Rider has no choice to endure the pain until --

-- Drake finally catches up with his partner, foregoing any attempts to talk reason into Blade to instead turn his weapon on him. With a burst of green energy, Drake stuns Blade long enough to retrieve Ghost Rider from the bonds of his own chains, and see him safely escape to summon the aid of others.

Slumped over his hellcycle, Ghost Rider flies on a path to find Louise Hastings of the Darkhold Redeemers, with a promise to stop Blade. A promise the further mutating possessor of the Demogorge denies, with a wag of his newly acquired demonic tongue.

The hammer...
On the strength of the physical dominance Blade showed over Ghost Rider and Demogoblin, I very nearly gave it to the Daywalker on points. On review, I think it's got to be a draw, given Drake went unscathed, and Ghost Rider managed to make a getaway.
A surprise loss for Demogoblin, however, with the kill to Blade.

So, when it came to quickly grabbing a stack of titles to choose from for Halloween, there were two characters that immediately jumped to mind: Ghost Rider and Blade! I mean, what would any good Halloween theme be without a dose of demons and vampires?

Typically when people refer to the variant/gimmick cover craze of the nineties, it's a title like Ghost Rider that gets harsh disapproval, sporting an array of metallic, blacks, and glow-in-the-dark specials. I, some would say fortunately, didn't spend much of my time with the Midnight Sons in the nineteen nineties, so was never particularly affected by this, or any other gimmick cover scam.
Still, I look back on those missed opportunities with some disappointment, because I'd really love to be able to browse over this corner of the Marvel universe.

Perhaps the only greater shame to come from the popularity of the 'darkside' in the nineties, is the way it's been defined and overshadowed by it's lesser qualities. I did one of my occasional google searches before delivering this entry, disappointed to find mostly ebay merchants, outdated sites, and the odd cult reference to something from these books.

In their own way, these books connect with me in a way I wish more titles did.
Behind awkward cut-off references to story chapters to come in other series and convoluted magic: a sensibility that pays careful attention to it's characters and the rules within which they operate. Like the allure of Daredevil and Marvel's criminal underworld, the supernatural equivalent is filled with interesting characters all too often overlooked.

Recent efforts to relaunch titles like Blade and Ghost Rider have been, well, to put it politely, destined for failure. Blade in particular was a series that had a very successful model to work off from the first feature film, but instead played a card that committed neither to the pop-references of Marvel's superhero universe, or the independent culture of the vampire/magic scene.

Ghost Rider succeeded, at least in it's initial issues, in steering closer to it's origins as a supernatural-western thriller, but did so with meandering plot, and disengaging familiarities from Johnny Blaze/Satan stories past. That was, of course, before devolving in ways similar to Blade, getting wrapped up in crossovers like World War Hulk, which to be honest, attracted my attentions far more than the bland Satan stories.

You have to admire a commitment to direction by Marvel, but why it would be those particular directions that would garner such favour, I'll never know.
Even on a visual asthetic, Howard Chaykin's Blade grossly removed itself from the contemporary chic of the Blade films, bogging themselves down in ugly jawlines, and dated looking pencils, designs and washed out eighties colours.
The stake/gun-hand didn't help matters much, either.

From today's stack of talent, it's almost too obvious to talk about your Maleevs, Larks and Ajas for something like Blade, Ghost Rider, or the Midnight Sons; but in contrast to what we have seen, they remain the overlooked obvious.
Mind you, I have to mention, the style of these particular issues from the nineties remains something that stands out as something unique. Not so much the pencils, which don't differ greatly from standard superhero work, but the inks!

The old artistic edict 'when in doubt, black it out' is left behind as the darkness of this world is visually represented by a wanton use of flat blacks. Chris Ivy slathers black both in and out of panels, blurring the lines between where the action begins and ends, lending a stylistic difference to the style more commonly seen in hyperactive sprawls of panel-to-panel wall breaking.

A lot of this stuff, as far as I know, remains uncollected.
Sprouting icicles on the end of what's hot, and what's not, these books get kicked back in favour of the vogue of seventies back issues. Dan Ketch is absent, while Johnny Blaze again takes the reigns of the Ghost Rider franchise.

Maybe I'm looking at this stuff through rose coloured glasses, or maybe the goggles of confusion that sprout several hours after midnight, but with the success of these franchises on film every fanboys must ponder the same question: Why aren't they being made to work on the page?

It's worth mentioning that, although David Goyer's first Blade script distilled the character to much of what makes him so fantastic in a contemporary setting -- the character had already evolved much to this point in the comics themselves.
Those inclined to argue against a fictional drastic revamp would do well to remember this, as would the movie-going kids out there under the impression Blade was a jive-talking 'fro flinger until Hollywood got a hold of him.

No doubt the answers to secrets such as these, and many others, remain under the cosmic guard of Bahlactus! Like a giant purple urban legend, Bahlactus is said to scour the infinite webspace every Friday, seeking out suckers who would be punched, on this night of fights! Dare you risk hellfire, damnation and a Ghost Rider movie sequel by clicking his link to know for sure? ~SPOOKY!!!~

The Fight: 3.5 The Issue: 4.5

[Not surprising of a fledgling comics writer and superhero fanboy, I can't seem to stop grumbling about the imagined promise of a regular Marvel comic that would give a platform to the goings on of the urban underworld. Punisher, Daredevil, Deadpool, Sabretooth, Morbius, Dr. Strange, Blade, Ghost Rider, Cloak & Dagger... The list of characters that could find new life is endless!]